Blood and Sparks
by The Lord of War
Summary: Given a second chance at life in a strange new world. Guts tries to make a new life for himself in a world vastly different than the one he came from.


**Chapter 1: A Cold New World**

Some say that as you die you see a warm golden light calling you towards it; others maintain that there is only a rushing darkness as your senses slip away and you cease to exist. Turns out it. Both were wrong.

Guts didn't experience neither of those things as he transitioned to whatever afterlife awaited him. Instead of a warm light calling you forward or rushing darkness. It was a white blinding light, and a feeling of vertigo is what Guts had experienced as he died. Although didn't have a clue as to how he died. The last thing Guts remembered before dying was staring at the five members that comprise the God Hand alongside the elf Puck and his friends.

Not a particular bad way to go considering the circumstances of his life. At least he didn't die alone.

As what Guts could only assume was his soul, leaving its mortal coil he felt a sort of dim awareness and a distinct impression of two things; bluish white light and upward motion.

Guts had no idea how long the sensation lasted but when it finally stopped, he saw what seemed to be a series of pulsating cavernous tunnels. Each… tunnel… was a different color and a few of them seemed to bleed together in sets of two at the edges. 'Well, it's not exactly heaven, but it certainly isn't hell either. So where the fuck am I?' Guts wondered. 'Weird that I can still form coherent thoughts' He mused as he 'looked' at his blue glowing body hovering above a black surface. Guts was completely naked the black plated armor that adorned his torso and shoulders, with matching black pants and boots was nowhere to be seen. His Dragonslayer sword was also gone. As well as his steel prosthetic arm. Not that Guts needed it. But he found it strange that his soul like his mortal body was also missing its left arm and eye. Shouldn't his soul have been whole with his left arm and eye?

But then again Guts wasn't a theologian or a religious scholar or for that matter even a believer.

Spheres of bright light floated all around him. They reminded Guts of the will-o'-wisps he had seen once traveling through a swamp. They shone brightly as they moved down the tunnels. "Are... they the souls of other people?" Guts wondered eyeing the radiant spheres all around him. If he was dead. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to find the souls of others who have died in the same place as well.

Guts didn't have a clue. Perhaps they were, perhaps they weren't. He just didn't know. What to make of it all.

There was nothing really discernable about Guts new form beyond the fact that it matched the maelstrom of other similar spheres of light moving around him. Again with the myriad of different colors… Most of the one surrounding him were white, but every now and then one of a different color would pass near him and gravitate to its corresponding tunnel. What did the other colors mean? Did they relate to different afterlife's maybe? "I need to be careful here. There's no telling where those tunnels might take me."

Cautiously Guts began making his way through the cave. Ever mindful of his slow but steady progress through the maelstrom of souls. After a while Guts noticed he was execrably drawn in the direction of a blue tunnel. As he passed a red tunnel after what felt like to be seconds since he began walking. Guts noticed that while the red souls were indeed drawn to their own tunnel that's where their patterned movement stopped. Did they move of their own free will? As he continued through the cave, he studied each of the various tunnels he passed. Each of them seemed to have their own set of unique patterns, but after reaching their designated tunnel, each spirit seemed to make its way to the end of the tunnel. There, they would merge into a massive glowing white sphere with various light patterns around them in colors corresponding to the color of the souls being drawn in. The red tunnel was different though. There was no cluster at the end of the tunnel; there were several massive shapes and many seemed more distinct than spheres but the red souls just seemed to move around aimlessly within their area, occasionally disappearing around their tunnels walls. That, more than anything, caught Guts attention.

As he descended ever further into the cave in the direction of the blue tunnel that somehow tempted Guts towards it. He didn't like the fact that the tunnel was pulling him towards it. At first he could momentarily resist its lure, but the closer he got to the tunnel the harder it became to resist. Closing his eyes Guts prepared himself for a battle of wills to break free from whatever force was drawing him towards the tunnel. At first nothing really happened, just a slight pulse in his blue aura, but as he increased the level of his concentration, Guts began to slow down. Suddenly he stopped in front of a silver tunnel.

Shocked, he abruptly lost his concentration and started moving with the silver spirits for a while before concentrating enough to stop again."I did it!" Guts thought elatedly, "I was able to stop and resist the current! Heh, heh, now... what?" Holding still to gather his thoughts and ponders.

How long did he stand there thinking, contemplating his next move?

Guts had no idea.

This soul cave, as Guts had come to call it, had no real concept of time so he wasn't entirely sure how long he spent working on free and conscious movement but it felt like a matter of days before since he began walk/floating about the central chamber with ease and at his own discretion. 'But what to do now?' Guts thought aimlessly. He had no idea as to what he should do next. The blue tunnel no longer had any sway over him. Whether or not that was a good thing Guts didn't know. 'I can't stay here forever. In this cave of departing souls for all of eternity." There had to be something he was missing. Some clue or detail Guts didn't take notice of as he had wandered through the cave. 'The red tunnel.' Guts thought. 'There was something strange about that tunnel. It's different from all the others. Perhaps that's it?'

Floating over to the entrance to the red tunnel, Guts began to study it again. As he hovered there watching the comings, goings and interactions of the tunnels occupants, a quartet of red spirits passed him moving from the central chamber into their designated tunnel. As they passed Guts he felt nauseous and dizzy and there was a tugging sensation as the closest of the four pulled a small amount of his aura into itself on its way past.

Frightened he moved quickly away from the red souls and observed them as they entered their tunnel and faded into the swirling red depths. The one that had taken a piece of his aura had turned momentarily orange where our souls met and the color had spread across him before singing into his center where he faded back to crimson, slightly larger than when Guts had first noticed him. "What the fuck was that?" Guts yelled angrily "That bastard took a bite out of my soul as if it were a damn apple." Luckily, there was no damage to his soul form. None that could be seen at least. But still, that was... fucking unexpected to say the least.

The red souls can bite off parts of other souls and devour them. That... sounds like something the soul of an Apostle would do. If demons even had souls.

Regardless, the red tunnel was now officially scratched off and he sure as hell was staying far away from those floating red bastards.

Although that left Guts exactly where he was before coming to the red tunnel and having some munching soul take a bite of him.

Completely and utterly lost.

"Shit." Guts cursed his misfortune." Back to the drawing board." There has to be something here. He just knew it. He just hadn't found it yet. It couldn't have been his fate to wonder this tunnel aimlessly forever. It just couldn't. Demoralized, but far from defeated, he continued to search.

Time went by as Guts pasted tunnel after tunnel. Discovering new tunnels with different colors in the process, but other than that minor difference. Everything remained the same as when he first arrived in this damn endless cave. Exactly the same no matter how far in he traveled _everything_ was exactly the same. Tunnels and souls going to and from said tunnels. Again and again and again it repeated itself like the ocean waves.

It was hopeless. Guts wasn't the type of man to give up easily. He couldn't even remember the last time, he'd given up on anything. He had never given up on anything. Not mastering the sword, not becoming a mercenary, not becoming a commander in the Band of The Hawk or even his quest to kill Griffin. Not a single one of them had he given up on. But every situation was different than the one you faced before. The trials are different.

None of the challenges he faced before during Guts life could've possibly prepared him for the challenges that this soul cave presented. Schierke perhaps could've overcome this damn cave. Being a witch and having studied magic she could have deduced, what this place was and how to leave it for some other better place. But Guts wasn't Schierke he didn't have a clear understanding of how to use magic. He only knew how to swing a sword and throw a punch at someone. That was as far as his intellect allowed him. Which, under normal circumstances would've been enough for Guts to get by, but the circumstances that led him to this cave was far from normal.

To make matters worse. Guts was missing a few of the pieces. He still didn't know what caused him to be send here. Did he die? If so, how did he die?

"This way." Came a soft voice Guts almost didn't hear.

"What?" Guts called out. The voice was faint and as far as he could tell appeared to come from the cavern walls themselves." Is someone there?" He waited for a response for what felt like days. Each moment that passed Guts sank deeper and deeper into despair. Could he have imagined the voice? Did the years of isolation Guts had spent in this fucking cave, driven him to the point of insanity?" Just stay with me! Please!"

"This way...come this way." Came the voice again. Louder than before. Loud enough where Guts could tell where it was coming from. Somewhere in the direction of his left. He didn't waste a single second. He ran as if the devil himself was hot on his heels.

"I'm coming!' Guts yelled out as loud as he could. Hoping that whoever the voice belonged to would hear him and respond." I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming!" Guts hysterically repeated over and over again. A look of sheer madness on his face as he ran towards the epicenter where he believed the voice originated from. Dozens of tunnels passed him by as he ran anyone of whom might have been where the source of his madness had come from. Yet somehow Guts didn't even ascertain the notion that any of those tunnels were where the voice had come from. It was almost as if he already knew in his very soul those tunnels were not the ones he was searching for.

"Here...come here." Came the voice again. Louder than it's ever been. Loud enough that Guts could note the feminine tone in the voice." I'm right here. Please come in."

Guts stopped as he discovered the source of where the voice had been coming from all long. It came from a white, gold and purple colored tunnel. The triple color scheme combination alone set this tunnel apart from all the others Guts had seen. All of the other tunnels up onto now had a maximum of two colors in their schemes. But the thing that really sets this tunnel part from the rest of its kind was the fact that there was another tunnel literally inches apart from it. The second tunnel also had a triple color scheme similar to the first tunnel, save for one different color blue instead of purple.

To make the situation even more bizarre the second tunnel appeared to be inching its way ever closer to the first tunnel. As if it was trying to merge with the first.

But the thing that Guts notice the most was the absence of souls. There were no souls entering the tunnel, in fact, it appeared as if they were oblivious to this tunnel or actively ignoring it. The same thing went for the second tunnel. It was likewise completely devoid of souls.

Everything seemed out of place.

Yet that didn't deter Guts who at this point no longer cared about what might be waiting for him on the other side. All he knew and cared about was that there was someone there waiting for him on the other the side. That was enough for him to plunge headfirst into the barrier like spheres at the end of the tunnel.

A bright lights blinded Guts as soon as he entered and what felt to be a wave of air pushed him back, as if trying to force him out. Regardless, he pressed onwards against the air pushing him away. Every step he took got him one step closer to the voice he had heard.

Guts could feel it in his bones.

Just a little bit further. He could feel it, just a little bit further.

"You came." Guts almost let himself be blown away by the intense air as the sound of the stranger's voice came from right next to him."Thanks you! You don't know what this means to me." The stranger said, happiness and relief radiating from each word she spoke.

And she was definitely a she. Despite the binding light Guts could scantly make out the figure of a woman. She was a fair skinned woman, with long blonde hair that reached all the way to her thighs. Inhuman golden eyes stared at him warmly. Like him, she was completely naked.

Before Guts could even utter a single word the woman walked up to him and pressed her lips against his in a deep kiss. As soon as their lips touched, Guts felt a strange sensation all throughout his body. A euphoric inhuman feeling that could be felt in every cell in his body. Even incredibly in his missing left arm and eye he could feel the feeling resonating. Growing more and more powerful as each seconded passed.

The feeling intensified when the woman wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her bare breasts against his chest. Guts didn't resist her not in the least. How could he? Her touch felt like he was in paradise. It was so warm and fantastic.

Guts moaned in protest when she ended the kiss," With you here. I know they'll be safe. Thank you." She finished with a inhumanly, yet warm smile on her face.

What? As drunk as he, was on whatever was making him feel this way Guts still possessed a clear head, and his head was having trouble rationalizing what she just told him. Who would be safe? Safe from what?

"Ahh." Guts groan closing his eye as the woman exploded into an intense light. To make things worse the wave of air he had been pushing against suddenly vanished, causing him to fall face first into a large pile of something cold that immediately caused his body shiver in an effort to keep warm.

"God dammit! My fucking eye!" The Black Swordsmen screamed. That explosion had caused Guts an immense amount of pain. Good thing then that whatever broke his fall was cold and relieved some of the pain felt in his... left eye... and arm?

Opening his eyes Guts discovered to his amazement he was inside a pile of snow. But that wasn't the only surprise, he could see from both his eyes. His left eye that had been nearly gouged out by a Apostle was somehow now as good as his right eye in terms of sight. And most shockingly of all. Guts could feel his left arm. He could feel his left hand touching against the cold white snow. He could feel his fingers move at his command, brushing against the snow. He could feel the snow evaporate on his skin and trickle down his left arm.

And then it hit him. He was live. He was dead and then... he was alive again.

Frantically he stood up and shook off the snow from his body. Guts eyes went wide as he stared directly at a normal left hand.

"...What the fuck?" Where there should've been a stomp or a steel prosthetic arm was instead a normal left arm made of flesh and bones. That Guts had cut off himself three years ago to escape being devoured by an Apostle. Somehow that arm had returned.

He stared at his new left arm and for what felt like to be the millionth time was completely stumped as to how it happened.

Magic? Gift from God? Guts didn't have a clue as to how. But somehow he was alive. Somehow he was here standing on this cold snow covered field staring at a arm that shouldn't have been there, as the freezing wind sent chills through his naked body. He was alive.

*Boom!*

A massive explosion shattered whatever thoughts were running through his head. Frighten birds flew over his head in a mad scramble to flee from whatever had caused that explosion. Judging by the direction of where the birds were fleeing from, Guts knew the explosion had come from the area behind the hill that was to his right.

Climbing the hill Guts could make out the outlines of a city, although one with a foreign architecture style he's never seen before. A mushroom cloud of dust and smoke could be seen spewing right above the center of the city. No doubt the epicenter of where the explosion occurred.

Now that only left Guts with the question of whether or not he should go find out what had caused that explosion or follow the birds in flight and head in the opposite direction?

XxX

Ganessa Roland held her breath and tried to push down the terror brewing in her chest. She was inside of an abandoned ramen noodle stand whose owner deserted in the middle of cooking a fresh batch of ramen as the gas stove was still on. The smell of burning propane flooded her nostrils as she crouch down next to the burning stove. Water mixed with vegetables and pieces of raw meat were spilled across the floor of the stand. The constant heat exposure from the burning stove made some of the pieces of meat to decay. Adding to the awful smell caused by the propane gas.

Yet despite all that discomfort Ganessa didn't dare to move so much as an inch from her hiding spot. She could bear with the smell of propane and rotting meat. As well as getting her shoes dirty. Hell she had hundreds of pairs of shoes back in her dorm room in West Genetics. She didn't mind any of it.

As long as it helped her make it out of Tsukuba City alive and far away from those monsters Ganessa could give a flying fuck. She wore the standard Genetics uniform for Pandora's that consists of a purple blazer that had vertical white lines. On the right sleeve the white lines formed the symbol of the Genetics Academy, a white straight collar, a blue ribbon, a short skirt with a white horizontal line near the bottom edge, white thigh-high socks and black shoes with short heels.

"Oh God.' Ganessa whimpered out. She still couldn't believe it. Even though she was right there when it all unfolded and witnessed it with her own two eyes. She still couldn't believe what had happened. Was she in denial. Probably. There was nothing she wouldn't give to forget those terrible moments. To wish it all away and pretend it never happened.

But it did happen and she seriously doubted she would ever forget it. Especially considering that all she had to do to be reminded of what had occurred was simply to lift up her head over the wooden counter of the stand and gaze out at the street across.

Mustering what little courage she had left in her. Ganessa did just that and immediately saw what she wished wasn't real. A scene of carnage Ganessa had only known to exist in films was now straight in front of her. Blood covered almost every single inch of the street in front. You could barely find any asphalt that wasn't coated with blood. Limbs lay scattered around as if they were discarded pieces of clothing. Small fires burned all around near chunks of debris from buildings or wrecked cars. Intestines tangled from a streetlamp, dripping more blood onto the street. The corpses of dozens of Ganessa's fellow classmates littered the area, mixed in with the bodies of hundreds of the civilian inhibitions of Tsukuba City.

Looking through the mangled and misshapen corpses of her classmates Ganessa spotted the form of someone she had known very intimately and... even loved. Arthur Crypton, her Limiter. Half his face, along with his entire left shoulder was missing. It had been blown off by a particle beam.

"Ar-Arthur," Ganessa cried out softly. Tears ran down her cheeks at the sight of him." I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry. If only I had been stronger, quicker... I might have been able to save you." Had she been half as good as she bragged to be perhaps Arthur would still be alive. Standing right beside her comforting Ganessa with that kind dorky smile he always wore across his face. Instead of lying there on the street, missing half his left face.

Ganessa clenched her fists in anger, and her gaze fell on the monsters who were responsible for it all. The silicon bodies of multiple Novas lay shattered in chunks all throughout the battlefield that humanity had lost. Their corpses lay next to the blood and flesh bodies of her fellowmen.

They caused all of this. Those God damn monsters had caused all of it! They invaded Tsukuba, destroyed most of the city, butchered tens of thousands of innocent civilians, killed hundreds of Pandora's from Chevalier. Murdered dozens of her fellow classmates and killed Arthur!

And worst of all.

Ganessa couldn't have prevented any of it.

There was no way she could have prevented the Novas from attacking Tsukuba and killings civilians, she didn't blame herself for that. What she did blame herself for was being unable to save... anyone. She couldn't save anyone. Not the civilians she was meant to help, not the commanding Chevalier Pandora's, her fellow West Genetics classmates or even her own Limiter. Ganessa had failed to save anyone...

Accept herself.

Shame and guilt washed over her at the memory of what she had done. During the heat of the battle when it became obvious they were going to lose. Ganessa ran abandoning her comrades as they continued to fight a losing battle to the bitter end. And hid inside the ramen noodle stand she now found herself in.

But the thing that Ganessa found worst of all. The one thing that she couldn't forgive herself for was that she didn't regret it. She didn't regret abandoning her superiors, classmates, or even her friends to die. Ganessa didn't feel a ounce of regret over her actions. Whether that was because she logically knew there was nothing she could have done to prevent the outcome of the battle and that any action she might've done would've been futile, or because she was a coward who valued her life more than that of others.

She didn't know which of the two was true.

Noticing that the coast was clear Ganessa silently climbed over the wooden counter of the noodle stand she'd been hiding in and placed one foot after the other onto the sidewalk. When both feet touched solid ground she bolted like a bat out of hell in search of someplace safe. Even without the use of High End Skills which she didn't know, a Pandora is still greatly much faster than a normal human. In a matter of minutes she passed an entire segment of a street and didn't even feel slightly tired.

"Some Pandora I turned out to be," Ganessa thought bitterly. When it really mattered, when there was no one to hold her hand, when lives were on the line. She ran. She buckled and ran."God am so incredibly pathetic... And I had the nerve to lecture other people on what it meant to be a Pandora." The irony was almost too much to bear. She had spent a good chunk of her time at West Genetics chastising others for not being true Pandora's.

And here she was now running away with her tail tucked between her legs, hoping not to be seen by the big bad aliens.

God that was just... too pathetic.

As she was passing an alley something black reached out and grabbed her blazer and pulled her into the alley. "Ahh!" Eyes closed Ganessa screamed at the top of her lungs. The Novas had gotten her. In her haste to get somewhere safe she had failed to check her surroundings and now she was done for." Please no! I don't want to di-"

Something warm with fingers covered her mouth."Shhh."

Wait! What?

Did a Nova just shush her?

Slowly opening both eyes Ganessa found that it hadn't been a Nova who had grabbed her. But a tall man. His face was handsome and chiseled with a sharp jaw-line, and flawless fair skin. His black hair was short and spiky, with a few strands hanging just above his forehead like a crew cut. He wore a black jacket that covered a black shirt, black cargo pants and boots. He also carried a large black duffel bag over his shoulders.

"Be quiet. If you scream any louder. You'll attract every last one of those things." Guts told the woman. Honestly, she couldn't have been any louder. It's a minor miracle that those things hadn't swarmed them already." Do you understand?" If she didn't. She was either clueless as to what was going on or there was a language barrier.

Luckily neither turned out to be the case as Ganessa nodded her head." Odd we speak the same language." Guts thought removing his hand from the woman's mouth." I was certain that by the strange wording on the signs all around this place, the language would be different."

Ganessa immediately took a deep breath of air as soon as he removed his hand," Ah!... Jeez, your almost suffocated me there for a moment." As well as scared the living hell out of her. She seriously thought a Nova was about to make mincemeat out of her. That grip of his was so strong Ganessa had assumed it was an alien grasping at her...chest." Hey! What's the big idea grabbing my breast like that?"

When he had reach out to grab her Guts had unintentionally grabbed a hold of a sufficient chunk of her right breast. Guts hadn't meant to do that, but he wouldn't be losing any sleep over it or apologizing for it. If anything she should be thanking him.

"I see you didn't get the whole be 'quiet' part of what I said." Or the part of there being dangerous monsters a foot." I don't know why you're so worked up over something so miniscule. I only touched your breast for a few seconds. If anything you should be thanking me."

"Thanking you? For what? Sexual assault?"

"For saving your life?" Guts replied starting to regret having done so. Figures that the first person Guts would find still alive in this foreign city would be troublesome from the get-go." If you would have kept running down this street, you would've ran right into those things."

By those 'things' did he mean, "The Novas? There down this street?"

"The Novas? Is that what those white creatures with the lizard-like heads are called?"

A baffled look crossed Ganessa face at being asked such a question," Of course, that's what they're called. How could you not know?" Sure, the Nova-Type he just described had never been seen before until yesterday, but it shouldn't have been difficult at all to deduce that they were Novas. Their silicone bodies made that obvious enough where anyone could have figured that out.

Even civilians.

Guts shrugged his shoulders," I'm new around here."

 _"He messing with me,"_ Thought Ganessa staring at the man in disbelief. That had to be it. He was screwing with her. There was just no way he could not have known about the extra-dimensional aliens that had been threatening all of humanity for the past 53 years. Everyone knew about the Novas. Regardless of where they were from, a bustling metropolitan city or a remote scarcely populated village in the middle of nowhere. Everyone, whether they liked it or not knew about the invading aliens that would periodically invade the planet. Causing untold devastation and loss of life every single time they've appeared. Nova topics are the most covered news of every single news outlet in the entire world. New or old media, it was the same. It just wasn't possible for anyone to not know. Unless he had been in a coma ever since the aliens first appeared, but he wasn't nearly as old.

He looked to be only two or three years older than Ganessa.

"Cut the shit pale." Ganessa said, pointing at Guts's face." Stop acting dumb. This is not the time or place for whatever nonsense you're trying to pull. This is a life or death situation you're in, and if you want to make it to tomorrow alive, you need to get serious. Got it?"

The person who was running around like a chicken with its head cut off and screaming her lungs out for the whole world to hear was lecturing him for not taking things seriously?"Um..sure."

'Good! If you do as I say and not act like an idiot, maybe you'll survive the 30 hours time limit." Ganessa told him smugly. Her tone reminiscent of an aristocrat instructing the peasantry of what they should do.

"30 hour time limit?"

"Argh!" Ganessa cried out in frustration." What did I just say about acting dumb? You can't seriously expect me to believe that you don't know that the Novas explode 30 hours after arriving in our dimensions atmosphere. Everyone knows _that_ it's common knowledge."

"Those Nova things will explode?" The Angel of Confinement nodded. Immediately the explosion that Guts had felt seven hours ago came to mind. That explosion had been caused by one of those things detonating after 30 hours. Guts had seen the large impact crater in the center of the city as he scavenged for cloths and supplies. He had also seen the massive devastation the explosion had caused to the surrounding areas. Massive stone buildings that looked to be strong enough to withstand a barrage of cannon fire were completely destroyed and turned into rubble.

"Of course they're going to explode." Ganessa said exasperated." That's what has always happened since the 1st Nova Clash. Novas can't survive in our dimensions atmosphere for long, so within 30 hours upon arriving they explode."

The burgundy red-haired woman was annoying, but she certainly had a lot of useful information in that head of hers. Even if he didn't understand parts of what she was saying. What did she mean by our dimensions atmosphere? Still, even if Guts didn't fully understand all of what she was saying. If the part of those creatures exploding after 30 hours is true. Which he had no reason not to. Then it was best for Guts to hightail it out of this city as quickly as possible before they did.

"Thank you for the heads up. I really appreciate it," Guts told the Pandora before turning around and walking away heading deeper into the alley. It had taken him four hours to reach the city on foot before he began scavenging through it for around three hours give or take. In those three hours Guts had managed to traverse through a large chunk of the city. So it shouldn't take him that long to reach the outskirts of the city.

"Hey wait, where are you going?" Ganessa called out to him startled by his sudden departure.

"I'm getting the hell out of this city before those things go boom." Guts replied without turning to look at her or slowing his pace." You should too."

"You need to stick with me if you want to make it out of here live." Sure, his act of being oblivious to everything basic as to what was happening was irritating, but Ganessa didn't want him to leave." I'm a Pandora, I can keep you safe." She also wanted to redeem herself for not being able to save anyone. If she could save one life than everything she had put herself through since becoming a Pandora; the hellish training, the spilled blood, the aching nights, the traumatic experiences and all the sweat and tears wouldn't have been for nothing.

"I'll pass." Guts yelled back at her, not stopping." I can take care of myself."

"Y-you sure?" Ganessa asked desperately hoping he would reconsider. She didn't want to be by herself with no one else beside her. She wasn't like Satellizer who enjoyed being alone." It's really dangerous out there the Nova could sneak behind you at any moment. But if _I'm_ around that wouldn't be happening as Pandora's have enhanced senses.

"I'm sure." Guts said, reaching the end of the alley before stepping onto the sidewalk and turning left. Disappearing from sight.

"W-wait...please don't... leave me alone," Ganessa cried out softly at the man who disappeared. She wanted to yell at him to come back but her pride wouldn't let her. A Pandora begging a civilian to stay with her during a Nova clash just because she was scared of being alone was just too shameful. She still had her Pandora pride after all.

Not that she had much to be prideful of. But however miniscule it might be she still had some pride left.

"F-fine...then... I don't need you... am a Pandora... You need me. You hear me? You. Need. Me! Ganessa Roland. Second Year student at West Genetics ranked number two in her class. I would have kept you safe. I- "

*squeak.*

Aha!" Ganessa screamed at the sudden noise and immediately took off running after the man." Wait for me!" As she turned the corner, a rat that had been hiding behind a plastic trashcan came out from his hiding spot and began casually walking towards a piece of bread, that had been laying next to where Ganessa had been standing.

XxX

(Tsukuba City- With Guts)

This foreign city was a big place, way bigger than any city Guts had ever seen previously in his travels. It had paved streets wide enough for four horse carriages, side to side to pass at the same time. Dozens of tall buildings designed in exotic architecture towered in certain designated zones. Neatly trimmed trees and bushes all over, streetlights placed back-to-back and from each other and paved sidewalks. The city was also by far the most clean metropolis he had ever seen. The streets were completely devoid of any shit or piss.

Guts would've bet his life, that under normal circumstances there wouldn't have been a single human corpse sprawled out in the city's streets rotting under the sun. But since circumstances were far from normal as they could be Guts found hundreds, perhaps thousands of dead bodies rotting under the sun.

"Good thing it's winter here." Guts thought stepping over the corpse of an elderly woman whose head had been caved in by debris without so much as a single glance." If it had been summer. This whole place would've stunk to hell."

The Black Swordsman wasn't bothered in the least bit by the massive loss of human life all around him. Guts had long ago become accustomed to such images. He had seen similar scenes of carnage countless times throughout his life. Far too many for him to count and far too many for him to remember them all.

And far too many for him to care.

Guts paused as a series of mild shrieks occurred one after the other from behind him. Tilting his head just enough to see behind him. Guts discovered the shrieks had come from the women he had saved with the twin pigtails, that she kept curled at the bottom and tied off at the top with blue ribbons.

She had been following Guts since they've met. At first she had been discrete about tailing him and had kept around 25 to 30 yards of space between them. But after 8 or 10 minutes, she decided to close the distance between them. And now was just a few steps behind him.

And she wouldn't even shut up for a single second. She just had to make some sort of sound.

Unlike him, the woman was heavily bothered by the carnage she saw. Gasps of horror would slip out of her mouth every time she saw a new mangled corpse. Guts had seen the look on her face countless times before on pampered aristocratic knights who had never seen a drop of blood or a single corpse rotting in the sun in their entire lives. Sheltered little snowflakes whose rich parents had kept them oblivious and safe from the harsh and cruel world outside of their guarded castles and mansions. Of course, there was an irony there which Guts had never been able to grasp as to why that is. If you wanted your son to become a knight, a hazardous and bloody occupation. Why bother sheltering him at all? Blood and gore are in the job descriptions. Along with pillaging enemy settlements, ransoming captured enemy knights back to their families, executing those who couldn't afford the ransom, putting down rebellious peasants, slaughtering heretics and the occasional raping.

Not exactly the best place for a sheltered little prick to be in.

"Oh my God!" Case in point.

Guts had to resist the urge to sigh as the woman basically shouted for all, even the dead to hear where they were," For fucks sake lady. Are you trying to let every monster in the city know we're here?" Cause that's exactly what she just did. She just did the equivalent of ringing a dinner bell for any carnivorous monster in the immediate vicinity. And she said she wanted to protect him.

More like get him killed.

With shaking arms she pointed at something across to his right," "Th-Those.. are.. West Genetics uniforms."

Turning to see what Ganessa was pointing at Guts found a small public square tucked in between four buildings. It had a fountain in the middle, small trees and bushes along the edges and several tents scattered around. But what had caught his unwanted companions attention Guts was sure were the half-dozen or so corpses who wore the exact same uniform as her.

"Friends of yours?"

Ganessa didn't respond to Guts's question as she immediately ran towards the small plaza that several of her fellow schoolmates lay scattered about hoping against all odds that not all of them were dead. That there might be some survivors.

"Well that answered my question," Thought Guts as he watched Ganessa runoff towards the public square. The logical part of his brain was screaming at Guts to take advantage of the situation and ditch the squeamish loudmouth woman and hightail it out of the city before those monsters went boom with him in it. But for some strange reason, a gut feeling inside of him was telling him to follow after her. That he be better off with her than without. Which was absurd. Considering the woman couldn't go two seconds without making some kind of noise.

Yet despite Guts better judgment he followed after her. Trusting that his gut feeling was correct... somehow.

Although he wasn't exactly sure how.

When Guts arrived at the Plaza he found his loudmouth companion on her knees trembling with blood-soaked hands. Apparently in the three or four minutes it had taken Guts to arrive she had checked to see if any of what Guts assumed were her comrades were alive or not. And it looked like it was the latter.

"The-These are-were... the Third Years," Guts somehow managed to catch what Ganessa said in low voice."They came with us from Western Genetics... We were separated by the commanding Chevalier Pandora... They were ordered to the east of the city. While we Second Years were deployed to the west... We were supposed to assist in the evacuation of Tsukuba... We were ordered to engage the Nova only if we were attacked ourselves or in defense of the civilians in our vicinity... We weren't meant to fight this. We were meant to be crowd control. So the Chevalier Pandora's would be free to fight unhindered... We weren't meant to fight, we weren't meant to fight, we weren't meant to-."

Guts had never seen a more clear case of someone being in shock, then this. She just kept repeating 'we weren't meant to fight' over and over again. He had do something to snapper her out of it," Hey, what's your name?"

She stopped repeating 'we weren't meant to fight' and looked up at Guts," Ga-Ganessa Roland."

So she wasn't completely gone, good," I'm Guts." Ganessa raised an eyebrow at his name, but Guts dismissed it." Look, I can tell this is hard for you to bear. But you need to get a grip. And fast!" He was never good at sugarcoating things. Plus Guts always did preferred blunt honesty to anything else." We're not out of the woods just yet and according to what you told me back in the alley. We have a time limit that I'm not exactly sure how long we have left before the woods. Which we are still in goes boom."

Gently he placed his right hand on her shoulder, "We can make it out of here alive. The both of us. You and I." Ganessa's eyes widened at the statement." But first you need to get a grip... and stop making so much damn noise. If you can manage to do that. I promise you, you'll live through this nightmare and see what tomorrow brings."

"Y-You mean that?" No he didn't. A million different things could happen before they reached the outskirts of the city, any one of whom could result in either of them or both of them being killed. But Ganessa didn't need to know that. No. What she needed was to believe in her mind that there was a chance where she could leave this horror behind her and live. So that's exactly what Guts told her.

"Yes, I do," Guts lied." But only if you can keep a cool head about, stay quiet and do as I say. If you can do that you'll get to see your family again." Hopefully, that would be enough. And judging from the small smile that crossed Ganessa face. It was. Good because Guts didn't have any more flowery motivational speeches left in him.

"Yea, I can do that," Ganessa said while enthusiastically nodding her head." I can definitely do that. Yea, yea, yea of course. I can do that. Am Ganessa Roland! Eldest daughter and heir of the Roland family! Second-ranked Pandora in her class in West Genetics and am-.'"

"Making a whole lot of noise," Guts interjected to cut her off from her ramblings." I guess that part I said about being quite flew right over your head." Ganessa for her part, at least, had the decency to look embarrassed at having so quickly broken one of the conditions that was required for them to survive.

"Am-am sorry," Ganessa said face red as a tomato." I just got carried away there for a moment... I won't let happen again. I swear."

For both their sakes.

She better.

*Moan!*

The abrupt sound caused both Guts and Ganessa to immediately turn their gaze to the left side of the Plaza and found that one of the bushes was shaking slightly. A second later, a few of its leaves fell off, followed by a series of soft moans and then it all stopped as suddenly as it began.

Neither Guts or Ganessa said nor did anything they just stood there motionless and stared at the now silent bush.

Until Guts abruptly began casually walking towards the bush.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Ganessa asked slightly startled as she watched Guts nonchalantly walk towards the bush. He turned to look at her and then switched his gaze to the bush." It could be dangerous. Maybe we should just leave?"

Guts ignored her and continued walking towards the bush. It was dangerous just being out and about in this city with all those monsters lurking anywhere. Checking the inside of a bush wasn't going to get him killed. Guts seriously doubted one of those Nova monsters could fit inside of a bush that didn't even reached his chest. Plus, Guts already had a pretty good idea of what he would find inside of it.

Stopping right in front of the shrub Guts grabbed one of its branches with one hand and another branch with his other hand and pulled them apart sideways to find a young fair-skinned woman with back-length red hair. She had long sideburns reaching past her shoulders and bangs right above her eyes. Her attire was exactly the same as Ganessa's.

She was lying face first on the ground, somehow she had managed to avoid hitting any of the branches of the shrub and had struck the stone floor cracking it.

How unfortunate.

But the thing that caught Guts attention the most about the woman were the three large claw-like slashes on her back that was hemorrhaging blood at a rather alarming rate.

"Well?" Guts heard Ganessa call out." What did you find?"

"I think I found one of your friends," Guts told her without taking his eyes off the unconscious woman." She's alive." Although not for long if the pool of blood around her was anything to go by. Which it was big time." But she's hurt real bad."

Faster than Guts thought possible Ganessa was standing right next to him. She gazed down inside of the shrub and immediately gasped." Oh my God. I know her." Thankfully, she kept her voice mild this time instead of its normal loud pitch." She's a Third Year and ranked in the top ten of her class I believe."

Guts didn't know what any of that meant," Do you know her name?"

Ganessa didn't answer, instead she rubbed her chin, as if in thought, and then after a few seconds snapped her fingers." Of course. How could it have slipped my mind?"

"Well? Guts asked impatiently." Do you know her name or not?"

"Of course I know her name," Ganessa replied as if offended by the question." How can anyone forget the name of the Guardian of Order.

The guardian of what?

"Look if you don't know her name just say so, you don't have to make shit up."

The Angel Confinement angrily stomped her foot on the ground, then raised her right hand and pointed at Guts's face with an enraged look on her face," Listen you! I don't make 'shit up' and I do know her name. It's Ingrid Bernstein!"

Then why the hell didn't you just say so from the beginning thought Guts as he silently watched his companion continue to throw what basically amounted to a temple tantrum. She went on and on about her credentials and accomplishments that was all pointless nonsensical garbage in Guts opinion. In all honesty, everything Ganessa was spewing from her mouth was completely and utterly aimless. They were just words that neither helped nor hindered them. At first Guts didn't understood the reason why she was so loquacious, given the situation they were in and the fact that Guts wasn't the most sociable of individuals, one would assume that silence would dominate the majority of their time together. But no that hadn't been the case. Ganessa had taken advantage of every single opportunity she could get and then some to start a conversation or just say something, anything that was on her mind.

But as time passed Guts noticed something peculiar about his new companion. The more Ganessa talked the more she seemed to be at eased. She looked more and more relaxed as each word left her tongue. While on the other hand, she appeared more anxious and fearful whenever there was a moment of silence. It was brief but clear as day to see that silence bothered her. It was then and there that Guts realized that talking was how Ganessa was coping with the situation they were in. Her own personal psychological coping mechanism perhaps to get her through this difficult situation.

He didn't know why and even if Guts did he doubted he could do anything about it... Actually there is one thing Guts could do.

Engage it.

"Was there a point tucked away inside that incoherent rambling of words you just spewed from your mouth? Or was all of it just bullshit you pulled from out of your rectum?"

Ganessa face could not have been more red with rage or mad looking. If looks could kill that would be the face of a murderer. But before she could retort a series of moans caused both of them to look down to find the unconscious woman inside the shrub was moving.

"C-Causing... no-noise... so early... is a violation... of school rules... cease and desist... immediately." The woman, now known as Ingrid muttered out. She tried to lift her head off of the floor but after managing to lift it a few inches into the air her head collapsed right back onto the floor." Leo... I could... use some...assistance. My head...hurts."

She's delusional thought both Guts and Ganessa at the exact same time.

Ganessa didn't knew what exactly she should do to help her injured and clearly disoriented schoolmate. She had never been taught on how to treat someone who has been so grievously injured. The only medical useful lessons Ganessa had learned was mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, the Heimlich maneuver and how to put pressure on bleeding wounds. Two of whom Ganessa had already learned how to do before she had volunteered to become a Pandora.

Luckily she didn't have to do anything as Guts reach down with both hands, grabbed Ingrid by her underarms and lifted her up. Ingrid let out a scream of pain at being moved that sent a chill down Ganessa's spine, but didn't so much as bother Guts who lifted the woman over the branches of the shrub and then placed her face first on a nearby table next to the shrub. She continued screaming for a few more seconds before suddenly going quiet.

"Careful you dolt!" Ganessa yelled out."Can't you see she's in pain? Be gentle with her."

Guts held back his remark about how he was being gentle and instead decide to look over the woman's wounds. Besides the three slashes on her back she had numerous lacerations, bruises and oddly enough blacken marks that Guts knew were a result of burns throughout her entire body. Whatever fight this Ingrid woman had been in she had clearly gotten the worse end of it. Then again, considering that she was still alive, while the rest of her comrades were clearly not she hadn't exactly gotten the worst end of that stick.

At least not yet anyways.

"W-Where, am I?" Ingrid suddenly said, catching both Guts and Ganessa by surprise. The injured Pandora looked between the two and immediately recognize one of them," Second-Year Ganessa Roland and...who are you?"

Before Guts could respond Ganessa answered for him," Don't mind him Ingrid he's just a civilian whose life I saved. I'm trying to get him to safety away from this city." She saved him? Guts raised an eyebrow at such a brazen lie but was ignored by both Pandora's." But more importantly, what happened here Ingrid? Don't take this the wrong way, but you do not look good."

"No offense taken. I feel even worse than I look," Ingrid stated wincing in pain at each spoken word." And as to what happened... we were ambushed. We were ordered to escort a group of civilians and wounded to a safe-zone for evacuation when those new Nova-types suddenly appeared and attacked us. We fought them as best we could...but we lost.

"Ingrid... How did you survive?" Ganessa asked." You're the only non-civilian survivor we've encountered so far."

Ingrid closed her eyes and sighed," I'm sorry to hear that. And as to how I survived. The only explanation I can come up with is...luck."

"Luck?"

The injured Pandora nodded," It's the only explanation I can think of currently. After that NOVA slashed me in the back and then blasted me into the air... I shouldn't be having this conversation with you right now. But I am. So luck I guess."

"Incredible," Ganessa said awestruck. To think anyone could've survived all that was just incredible. Ganessa doubted she would've been able to survive had it been her instead of Ingrid. Which immediately caused her to feel depressed at her own obvious shortcomings. If only she wasn't such a weak Pandora, then perhaps Arthur would be alive.

"You mentioned a safe-zone," Guts spoke, catching the attention of the two Pandora's." I'm assuming you know of a safe place for us to go? Right?"

"Yes," Ingrid replied looking up at Guts." It's not far from here. But I'm not sure if it's still safe."

"What do you mean you don't know if it's still safe?" Ganessa said diverting Ingrid's attention away from Guts." It's a safe-zone. The word 'safe' is in safe-zone."

"It was night time before I was knocked unconscious. Judging by the fact that it's morning now means that hours have had to have passed since then. Anything could have happened throughout that time Ganessa. Including the worse."

Ganessa bit her lip at Ingrid's words. She knew what the older Pandora said was true anything could have happened since she was last awake. But damn it, she wanted this day to be over so badly.

"Then we check to see if this place is still safe or not." Once again, the attention of the two Pandora's turned to the only male present." If it is safe. We stay. If it's not. We look elsewhere."

"That...isn't a bad idea," Ingrid stated.

"I agree it's not bad at all," Ganessa chimed in.

"So we're all in agreement then," The two Pandora's looked at each other and then nodded simultaneously." Good. Ingrid if I were to carry you on my back do to you think you can control yourself from screaming?"

"I believe so, yes," Ingrid answered." But shouldn't Ganessa be the one to carry me? She's a Pandora after all. And you're just a civilian. Even in your fit state you'll tire yourself out long before she will. Are you sure you want to risk that?"

Guts had to fight back from snorting at such an absurd statement. Ganessa has more endurance than him. Please! He might not know what a Pandora was but Ganessa looked like she could barely endure a gust of wind let alone carry someone from one location to another.

"I'm sure," Guts simply replied."

"Very well."

XxX

(West Japan Genetics Military Academy- Operations Control Center)

"Damn it! This is a complete disaster!" Yelled a senior high-ranking Chevalier officer.

The headmistress of West Genetics Sister Margaret Lindman could not have agreed more with that statement. The situation they were currently in was grim. Looking at the multiple monitors throughout the large room that displayed various images from various locations throughout Japan. Margaret saw only scenes of devastation, death and pain on every monitor her gaze fell on. Not a single monitor showed anything that might even be considered positive. That might perhaps have brighten an already incredibly bleak situation.

Try as she might Margaret or anyone else monitoring the situation never found such an image.

"At least it will be over soon. There's less than three hours left before the NOVAs self-destruct."

Margaret supposed that might be considered good news. Although it brought no comfort to her personally.

She knew that when a NOVA dies due to reaching the time limit.

It never dies alone.

XxX

(Tsukuba City- With Guts)

"Hey Ingrid how much further till we reach the safe-zone?"

"...Not much further Ganessa. One or two more blocks straight ahead and the safe-zone should be to our right."

"Great!"

Guts was impressed. Not only did Ingrid not scream once since he started carrying her from the Plaza she hadn't let so much as a peep escape her mouth. In fact she was rather quiet throughout the whole trip. She only spoke to give out directions or when directly asked a question which, thanks to Ganessa was much more frequent than it should of been necessary.

He tilted his head slightly to look at the woman. Ingrid was on his back she had her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. His arms were under her knees to prevent her from falling off. Her head nestled on his shoulders and neck. He could feel her breath every time she took a sip of air. Strands of her long red occasionally found their way onto his face. So did the small amount of blood she would cough up periodically.

She always apologize for it no matter how many times Guts told her to forget about it. She did the same when blood dripped from her back and land on his shirt and pants.

Getting blood on him didn't bother Guts at all. He pretty much bathed in the stuff his whole life. No, what bothered him wasn't the blood. It was... how soft she felt and her breasts. Her breasts were pressed against his back and he could feel everything thanks to the thin shirt he wore. And by everything he meant everything. He could feel her nipples move from one area on his back to another. And to make things worse she wasn't exactly small up top. Far from it. Normally this wouldn't be the case, as he usually wore thick plated armor on his chest. But now things were different and because of it forgotten feelings that Guts hasn't felt in years were manifesting once again.

He was only human after all.

"Is there something on my face?"

"What!?"

Black and blue iris stared at each other as Ingrid looked him straight in the eye," You were staring at my face so I thought perhaps I might have something on it."

"Just some blood," Guts quickly told her slightly embarrassed at having stared at her. He turned his head away from her and stared straight ahead.

"Again, I'd like to apologize for ruining your clothes, I'd be more than happy to pay for their dry-cleaning or buy you a new set of clothes." Ingrid said again for what must've been the fourth or fifth time.

"I told you it's no big deal," It's not like Guts actually paid for these clothes he found them in some store along with several other hundreds of clothes while scavenging through the city. He could just go back to the same place he found them after the monsters blow up and get another pair of cloths. If the store managed to survive that is. And even if he did pay for them he wouldn't throw them away because of a little bit of blood." You should be more worried about yourself. You're not exactly in the best of shapes."

Ingrid smiled softly," No, I'm not. But there isn't any point in worrying about things one has no control over. The best one can do in a situation like this is keep a level head and push forward."

He respected that view point. It matched his own: worry about what you can change and forget the rest.

"Pardon me, but I never got your name."

He turned to look at her," Its Guts." And this time he did notice the raised eyebrow.

"Just Guts?" Ingrid asked to make sure. It was such a simple name. And an odd one at that. Who name someone after the intestines of the human anatomy? It sounded like a fake name or a nickname then an actual real name.

"Just Guts"

Ingrid looked like she was about to ask him another question when Ganessa suddenly called out," Um, Ingrid this wouldn't happen to be the place would it?" Since conversing with her fellow Pandora she had walked twenty or so yards ahead of the others. She was standing unusually still as she stared at something to her right."Please tell me this isn't the place."

They barely caught that last part.

"Ganessa what's the matter-"

The rest of Ingrid's words died in her throat the moment Guts reached Ganessa and she saw what her junior Pandora was so fixated on.

Where there should've been a football stadium large enough to accommodate nearly 100,000 people and a field wide enough for multiple helicopters to land simultaneously next to each other and still have plenty of room left over for several tents to be placed was now nothing more than rubble. A giant heap of twisted burned metal, shattered concrete and broken glass. Numerous large blacked out holes riddled the stadium. It was as if a massive barrage of cannon fire had struck the place and torn it asunder. One hole however, stood apart from the rest. It looked more like something had tried to smash their way through instead of blasting.

This was not safe.

"No,' Ganessa muttered out falling onto her knees." No, no, no, no, no, no. No!"

"Ganessa I know this looks bad, but we-"

"No!" She screamed so loud that it caused several birds to fly away in fright." I'm tired of this. I'm so sick and tired of this. I want to _go_ home! I don't want to see dead bodies anymore. I don't want to fight anymore. I don't want any of this. I just want to-"

*Slap!*

Ganessa quickly placed her hand on the cheek, Ingrid had just smacked in the blink of an eye. She had done it so quickly that it had taken Guts a second or two before he realized the injured Pandora had gotten off his back.

"Listen to me, very carefully." Ingrid said, gazing down at Ganessa as if she were a worm." No one cares what you want. The NOVAS don't care what you want. The world doesn't care what you want. Our superiors don't care what you want. Our teachers don't care what you want. The civilians don't care what you want." Ingrid crotch down and stared directly into Ganessa's shocked face." I don't care what you want."

The Angle of Confinement for once didn't dare say anything back, she just started in stunned silence at her senior Pandora's stern face. Guts on the other hand, wasn't even paying attention to the scene unfolding in front of him and was looking elsewhere as if it didn't concern him.

"You're a Pandora," Ingrid pointed out."This! This right here, that you want nothing to do with. Is the very reason why Pandora's were created in the first place. If _this_ horror didn't exist then no one would've bothered to create the Pandora's or the Stigmata and you and me would just be regular girls living regular lives. But we're not. We're Pandora's and we have a job to do. So you'd best get your act together and get to it. Got it? "

Ganessa slowly nodded her head.

"Say it! Say you understand it."

"I understand it, okay. Jeez."

"Good now-Aah!"

The Guardian of Order screamed in shock as Guts grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder he then went on and quickly did the same with Ganessa and then took off running like a bat out of hell that was being chased by the devil himself.

"Hey, what's the big idea you perv!" Ganessa screamed into Guts's ear." You grabbed my breast again!"

"The thing behind us, that's what!"

Both Pandora's simultaneously looked behind which in their position was their front and they immediately went eyes wide in fright at what they saw. A white and gray colored creature that was over 8 feet tall. It had a reptile like head, but with no eyes, at least none that could be seen. Its body was humanoid with a broad torso that oddly enough, possessed what appeared to be two breasts. Above the breasts a small blue triangle shaped crystal could be seen. It had four limbs two upper ones that clearly resembled arms and two lower ones that were legs. Its arms were long and thick like a tree trunks and instead of fingers five nasty looking claws were on its hands. It's legs were basically just thin stumps. But the thing that stood out the most was that the creature appeared to be made from inorganic material. It didn't possess anything that might resemble flesh.

"The Unknown-Type NOVA!" Ingrid cried out as soon as she saw the silicon extra-dimensional alien. The NOVA was rapidly moving towards them despite its large size and thin stump legs it moved frighteningly quick.

"Aaah!" Ganessa screamed in terror at seeing the NOVA." Run faster Guts! Faster!"

Guts would have if he could it wasn't exactly like he currently had the means to kill that monster. He didn't have his Dragonslayer sword on him, or his Berserker armor or any of the knives or bombs he usually carried. For the first time since he could remember Guts was completely unarmed.

"The NOVA its gone!"

What?

The Black Swordsman looked behind him too indeed, find the monster was gone. He, along with Ingrid and Ganessa tried to find the creature but couldn't. It was gone without a trace. No tracks could be found as to where the monster might have gone. It had completely vanished. Disappeared as if it had been a figment of their imagination.

But Guts knew better. Things were never that easy. They were never easy period. Not, when you were dealing with monsters.

If the monster wasn't behind him, or in front of him, or to his left or right hand sides. That only left two viable options beneath him, possible but unlikely as Guts didn't feel any vibration or movement coming from the ground as would usually happen whenever someone had tried a ground-based attack against him.

So that only left...

Guts immediately came to a stop, narrowly missing being trampled as the NOVA monster landed right in front of him. Somehow the monster landed without cracking so much a single stone beneath it. It's reptile head stared down right at them. In the blink of an eye it raised its left hand and struck Guts in the chest sending him and his passengers right into a wall.

A moan of pain was all Guts could mutter out before coughing blood. It felt like he had just been hit in the chest by a war-hammer. The blow no doubt broke several of his ribs and possibly much more. He tried to stand up but he couldn't even get off the ground. Looking around Guts found both Pandora's were rendered unconscious. Judging by the wound on her head that was bleeding profusely Ganessa had struck the wall head first. Ingrid was seriously injured before she struck the wall so it was impossible to tell with her based on wounds.

This was not looking good.

It became even worse when he noticed the monster was making its way towards them.

It can't end like this thought Guts his second chance at a new lease on life can't end like this. At each step the monster took it increasingly was becoming clear that, that indeed was how it's going to end.

"Stop," Guts muttered out lowly at the NOVA."Stop," the monster was just a few feet away." Stop get the hell away from me." Every step the monster took towards him filled Guts with rage. It couldn't end like this. Without a struggle. Without a fight.

No!

"I said stop you shit!"

At those words blue and red glowing square shaped lines that made what resembled tiles sprung out from Guts on the floor. The light spread out for at least over a hundred yards or more than they just stopped.

"What in the world?" Guts wondered, looking down at the glowing square shaped lines beneath him. Until he heard a cracking sound, looking up, he discover the sound was coming from the monster.

The monster was just standing there, as if it had been frozen in place by a spell. Cracks appeared all over its body from his head to his legs then it suddenly shattered to pieces.

The monster broke apart into pieces.

That made no sense. It made even less sense when the light stopped as soon as the monster had crumbled to pieces.

None of this made any sense. Where did that light come from? Why did the monster stop and then break apart? And...

Why was he so tired?

He felt exhausted as if he hadn't slept in days. His eyes suddenly became heavy, hard to keep open.

"Over here. I think I heard something!"

Was the last thing Guts heard before falling asleep.


End file.
